A homeowner recently told one of our consultants, “It doesn’t really matter which company installs my solar, because you’ll all be out of business eventually anyway.”

Wow, there are just so many concerning things in that statement.

First of all, while a number of solar companies have closed their doors or left the local market, New England Clean Energy has every intention of being around to serve our customers and honor our warranties for years to come.

After all, your solar will last for decades. Your solar company should too.

Second, it does matter which company installs your solar. Solar may feel like a commodity because it’s everywhere these days. But would you let just any old company paint your house, or install your new kitchen? No, right? Because even if they use the same paint or appliances as the other companies, there is a labor element to the job. And the quality of their labor can be superior or it can stink. You want it done right the first time, by quality-conscious people backed up by solid warranties.

Let me tell you one of my favorite jokes. A barber with a brisk business charged $10 for a haircut. One day, a new barber set up shop across the street and put a big sign in the window reading: “$5 haircuts”. I asked the first barber why he wasn’t worried about being undercut by the competition. He smiled, picked up a sign of his own and put it in the window. It read: “We fix $5 haircuts.”

So if you want the cheapest haircut possible performed by a flash-in-the-plan barber not interested in quality, by all means pick the second barber. But if you want a quality haircut from an established barber who will be around for years to serve you, pick the first. And by the way, we get calls weekly to fix someone else’s $5 haircut!

OK, I think I’ve beaten that analogy to death.

One last thing – How do you ensure a quality installation from a quality company? Definitely check out consumer reviews of the company. But it also helps to know what other professionals think of them.

Local building and electrical inspectors are a great gauge of installer quality, because they see hundreds of systems installed by scores of companies on a regular basis. I’m very proud of the fact that we have two local building inspectors as customers.

Inspectors aren’t known for doling out praise so I’m also very proud that two weeks ago, a local electrical inspector in a suburban Boston town went out of his way to call our CEO Doug and commend our crew. His comments went something like this, according to Doug:

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the work your crew did today. The job was done in a 100% professional manner with no incidents, all done to code, and exactly as it should be done. Your crew shows that solar can indeed be installed quickly and correctly when done by real pros.”

I encourage you to contact your local inspector if you’d like a professional opinion on our work. Because it does matter which company installs your solar.